No. 1 Terps women roll to 16-4 win over No. 7 Penn

Schwarzmann, Merrifield pace Maryland in non-conference victory

Alex Aust is congratulated by her teammates after her first-half… (Baltimore Sun photo by Gene…)

April 01, 2011|By Mike Frainie, Special to The Baltimore Sun

COLLEGE PARK — — Even without their leading scorer, the Maryland Terrapins just keep on rolling.

The defending national champion Terps got four goals from sophomore midfielder Katie Schwarzmann (Century) and three more from Laura Merrifield to defeat No. 7 Penn, 16-4, in a non-conference game Friday night.

The Terps played without scorer Karri Ellen Johnson, who sat out with an unspecified illness. Judging by the way the offense was clicking, they didn't need her.

"I think we played our best defensive game of the season," said Terps coach Cathy Reese. "Brittany [Dipper] came up with several key saves early, and we played well in transition.

It took the Maryland offense a little more than five minutes to solve the Penn defense, which had given up six goals a game. Once they did though, the goals came in bunches. After Penn's Bridget Waclawik scored to cut the Maryland lead to 2-1 with 21:50 left in the first half, Maryland scored eight of the next nine goals, with Schwarzmann and Merrifield each getting a first-half hat trick, en route to a 10-2 lead at the break.

The offense got multiple goals from five players (Schwarzmann, Merrifield, Sarah Mollison, Alex Aus and Jen Mendez) and single goals from three others (Beth Glaros, Brandi Jones and Danielle Kirk).

The Quakers scored two of the first three goals of the second half to cut the lead to 11-4 with 15:25 left, but Maryland scored the last five to put the game away. Many of the Maryland subs got to play a significant chunk of the second half.

"We really hustled out there," Schwarzmann said. "We'd been working on our slide and out cuts, and it really showed in the game."

The victory was Maryland's 22nd consecutive win. Merrifield, a senior, says the streak and going undefeated are important to her personally.

"We all want to keep the streak going and win another title," she said. "I think it's more important to me because I am a senior."

Not to be outdone was the Maryland defense. The backliners held the Penn attack to its lowest output of the season, giving up just four goals. Schwarzmann said she's typical of most of the Maryland players in that she likes to play defense as well as offense.

"I like them both equally," she said. "When we make great plays on defense, it shuts down the other team and starts our transition game. We get a lot of goals that way. Our defense is a big part of our offense."